Friday, October 30, 2009

The best thing for your soil is compost. It contains all the nutrients your plants will need to grow and thrive. Here is how you can easily create your own and add good quality compost to your soil all year round.

Compost is the process of organic material breaking down into a rich dark black soil through the process of aerobic decomposition. Bacteria and other microorganisms feed on this organic material which breaks it down. Then as you move up the food chain other creatures such as the earthworm and nematodes, either eat the bacteria or the decomposed material creating even better compost.

The underlying environment is so advanced that it can take your left over food scraps, grass clippings, twigs and leaves and turn them into every nutrient your vegetable plants will ever need. The best part of this ecosystem is that it is already there and the only thing you need to do is supply it with an organic food source (more on that in a moment).

The most common form of composting is a compost pile. This is where you keep a pile of organic material such as leaves, twigs and grass clippings (to name a few). As the bacteria and microorganisms breakdown the material the center of the pile starts to heat up. When the temperature reaches a level that will make it harmful to good bacteria (usually around 150degrees) you then turn the pile over to bring fresh material to the center and the process starts over. You continue this until all of the material is broken down into a dark rich looking soil. From there you can mix it right in with your soil, brew compost tea, or add more organic material and keep the process going until you have the amount of compost you need.

An excellent second way to create compost is through creating vermicompost. Vermicompost, also called worm castings, is when earthworms eat organic material and their waste is what is leftover, creating the best compost your soil could have. The best organic materials you can feed to earthworms are your food scraps and leftovers. I find it easiest to simply dig a hole in my garden about eighteen inches deep and dump the food scraps into the hole, then cover the hole with dirt. The worms and the underlying ecosystem take care of the rest.

Of course this method makes it impossible to use the vermicompost to brew compost tea and if that is what you are looking for then your best bet is to maintain a vermicompost bin also known as a worm box or worm farm. You can make one yourself for fewer than fifteen bucks with a couple of Rubbermaid containers or you can buy one from your local home or garden center.

You simply add in food scraps, a little soil and of course worms. Then when the food scraps have all been ingested by the worms you remove the vermicompost, brew your tea, and add it to your soil or whatever your heart desires. You can repeat this process all year round, unless of course you run out of food scraps.

As you can see it is fairly easy to make your own compost. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, you can add nutrients to your soil that will yield better harvests for your fruits and vegetables.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Kohlrabi is cousin to cabbage and broccoli. The best time to grow this great tasting vegetable is in the cooler months in the autumn following plants that can only grow when the temperatures are hot. Here is how you can successfully grow kohlrabi in your home vegetable garden.

It is not recommended that you sow your kohlrabi seeds indoors due to the fact they germinate better in cooler temperatures that are more than likely readily available outdoors during the autumn months. Therefore sow your seeds in your garden no deeper than 1/2" and space them out at least eight inches.

For an optimal growing environment make sure you test the pH level of your soil. Kohlrabi likes the soil to be neutral or as close to neutral as you can get. 6.0 - 7.0 would be ideal.

For an optimal growing environment make sure you test the pH level of your soil. Kohlrabi likes the soil to be neutral or as close to neutral as you can get. 6.0 - 7.0 would be ideal. You can pick up a soil testing kit from Home Depot or Lowes or any garden center for just a few bucks.

Kohlrabi yields best in full sun but there are genetically engineered seeds that can tolerate light shade knowing the days in the autumn months, in regards to sunlight, are shorter. So make sure you plant the seeds where your garden receives ample amounts of sunlight.

Even watering is all you will need for kohlrabi. Keep the soil moist by moderate watering every couple of days. Do not saturate as that could cause root rot.

When the stems are about two inches in diameter you can begin to harvest. Simply pull the entire plant and trim off the leaves and the roots. Kohlrabi will store for well over a month in your refrigerator, so if you harvest the plant and can not get to eating it right away, do not worry, you have plenty of time.

As you can see kohlrabi is not that difficult to grow and harvest. Follow these simple few steps and you will be well on your way to adding a great tasting vegetable to your dinner table compliments of your backyard home vegetable garden.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The most popular variety of eggplant that people will recognize immediately is the black beauty. It is that dark purple colored eggplant that is about ten to twelve inches long and an oblong shape. However there are more than a dozen varieties available.

Eggplants like it warm. In fact they like the ground to be hot. This does not mean if the ground is a bit cooler they won’t grow. What it means is to have your eggplants excel in growth and produce faster the temperature of the soil should be around eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit (twenty-nine Celsius).

The best way to keep that temperature up there is by placing grass clippings around the base of the plant. When the grass clippings begin to decompose heat is generated and that heat transfers to the soil giving your eggplant the optimal growing temperature.

Because eggplants like it warm, I recommend that you start your seeds indoors. You can buy a portable mini greenhouse for less than five bucks at home and garden centers. Place them on your window sill where the sun hits first thing in the morning and in a few days your eggplant seeds will have germinated. Once there is no fear of frost outdoors and your eggplants are at least three inches tall you can them move them to the outdoors.

Once you have planted them in the ground, keep in mind that eggplants require lots of water and full sun. Without one, the other or both, it will take longer for them to produce their fruit, if at all. So make sure you pick a spot in the garden that receives sun all day and give them a heavy watering every couple of days or so.

For you advanced gardeners or those of you that want to take your vegetable gardening to a whole new level, planting beans, peas, peppers and/or potatoes alongside your eggplant all make for great companions to the eggplant. Although companion planting goes beyond the scope of this article, it is the process of planting different vegetables together in the same area because they compliment each other for a number of reasons. You can learn more about companion planting at our website.

Another advanced technique is monitoring the pH level of your soil. Soil test kits are available at your home or garden center for a couple of dollars and you can obtain this reading in just a few minutes. Eggplants like the soil to be a bit more acidic. Optimally the soil pH level should be in the 5.5 to 7.0 range for best results. Again, you can find more information about pH levels at our website.

Eggplant is best harvested when it reaches maturity, which is about ten to twelve inches in length for most varieties. Letting it go longer could result in flavor loss and too soon makes for a less tasty and harder fruit. When picking the eggplant I recommend that you use shears or garden scissors and cut the eggplant from the plant at the stem leaving half of the stem connected to the plant and half connected to the fruit.

Regardless of which species of eggplant you grow, the growing techniques for all varieties of eggplant are virtually the same. How you prepare them once you harvest them, well, I will leave that up to you.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

If you are like me then you already enjoy home vegetable gardening. For me it is relaxing, educational, a good source for decent exercise but most of all rewarding. I am not talking financially rewarding, but rewarding in a sense of, at the end of a growing season I have something to show for all my efforts and that is plenty of fruits and vegetables.

But what if you want to take your home vegetable garden to the next level and say use it as a tool to earn some extra income. Maybe you just want to earn enough to pay for the seeds you buy, the water you use and the fertilizer you need to make everything grow.

It is possible, but just like anything else in life it takes work. So before you get started the first thing I recommend is make sure you are having fun with it. Don’t just do it because it makes you money, you can get any type of second job for that. Do it because you love it, brings a smile to the face and makes you happy. When this happens the money will follow.

The first way you can earn some extra cash is your own roadside stand or a stand at your local community flea market. When you harvest your vegetables you can set yourself up a little stand and sell it by the weight, quantity or whatever is easier for you. To get an idea of what you can charge for your vegetables, take a ride to your local grocer and see what they charge and make it comparable. If your harvest looks good and healthy, and priced right, you should have no problem making some sales.

A second way to earn some extra cash at your local flea market is to sell plants after they have germinated. It is a way for you to supply other home vegetable gardeners. If you have the space to germinate seeds indoors during the cooler months, transfer them once they have sprouted to pots, then you have everything you need to make a dollar or two per plant. Of course the larger the plants the more you can charge, but I will say there is a cut off for price and size. A dollar or two for a three to six inch plant is ideal and tomato plants do the best.

Who knows how to grow plants better in your area then you right? Well put that knowledge to the test and host a one day home vegetable gardening clinic for say five to ten bucks. You can go over which plants you grow, your success stories and so on, passing along your knowledge to others. The downfall is you will need a place to host it. Now I know our local library will let you use their rooms for a small fee as will the local schools, so start there first.

As you can see none of these methods mentioned above are out of the ordinary or crazy ideas. They are straightforward ways to utilize the skill set that you already have with home vegetable gardening and using that skill set to make you a few extra bucks.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Like many home vegetable gardeners, when I was younger I concentrated on the simple basics of having a home vegetable garden. The information I am about to share with you was never even a thought in my mind, but as I have come to learn, knowing it, has made me a better gardener and my harvest more productive.

You can keep your home vegetable garden at the current level of where it is now of planting some seeds, adding water, maybe a little fertilizer and waiting for the vegetables to come up, or you can follow the advice below and produce even more.

Sowing

This term refers to the depth at which you plant a seed. It varies by plant variety and seed size. A typical rule of thumb is the smaller the seed to more shallow it has to be planted. The reason being is each seed as built into it the ability to push through the topsoil. Larger seeds can push through from deeper depths whereas smaller seeds need to be closer to the top.

Germination

Germination is the process of when the vegetable plant emerges from the seed. Sure that one is easy, but there are factors that you can control to create optimal conditions for your seeds so they can germinate faster. For instance each vegetable plant likes the soil to be a certain temperature. If the soil is colder then what it likes it may take longer to germinate and if it is too hot you could literally cook the seed. But, having it at the optimal temperature will ensure that the seed will not only germinate, but emerge much faster.

Crop Rotation

Every vegetable plant uses nutrients from the soil. They need these nutrients to grow, thrive and produce tasty vegetables. The species of the plant will determine how much it uses of a certain kind of nutrient. For instance just like a body builder needs more protein, or a long distance runner needs more carbohydrates, your tomato plants require more of certain nutrients than say a cauliflower plant. Crop rotation is the process of where you plant your vegetables in different locations everywhere, ensuring that one valuable nutrient is not depleted from the soil due to planting the same crop in the same location year after year. This way the plant that needs more phosphorus will be moved to a location where the previous year the plant that was there did not require as much.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is when you plant different species of vegetable plants next to one another. You do this because these plants can compliment one another for a number of reasons such as insect, pest and disease control or one plant may put a nutrient into the soil that another plant requires in order to grow. Utilizing companion planting will make you garden go further than you ever thought possible.

pH, N, K, P

Get to know these letters well. They are short for very valuable items that your garden needs in order to thrive. For instance, pH is the pH level of your soil. You can get this reading (as well as the others N,P,K) by purchasing a home soil testing kit at your local home or garden center. If it is under 7 then your soil is acidic and over 7 it is alkaline. N stands for nitrogen, K stands potassium, and P stands for phosphorus. Although there are about 16 elements your plants need to grow strong, these are the big three. Knowing how much each of your plants need and supplying them the source to get it, will pay big dividends in vegetable production and taste.

Get to know these terms above and master them. Your home vegetable garden harvest will increase to sizes you never thought possible.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

There are literally hundreds of different varieties and species of tomatoes. You can get them from very small like a cherry tomato to a larger one like beefsteak, and everything in between. Besides the number of varieties you have to choose from, they come in varying colors and shapes as well. Orange, yellow, red, to name a few colors, pear, plum and grape to name a few shapes.

Regardless of which type of tomato plants you decide to grow, following a few steps can go a long way to hardier harvest, producing more tomatoes than you thought possible and tasting a lot better.

Adjust the pH Level

Tomatoes like soil that is a bit more acidic, (pH level of 5.5 to 7.5), than most plants. In case you don’t remember the pH scale, which measures the acidity of something, it ranges from 0 to 14. Anything under 7 is acidic, over 7 is alkaline with 7 being neutral. You can pick up a pH soil testing kit for a couple of bucks at your home or garden center. Simply follow the instructions on the kit to obtain the reading. If you need to bring the pH level down mix in some compost and manure in the fall before the spring/summer planting season.

Start the Seeds Indoors

Tomatoes like the heat and if you live in an area of the country like I do where the heat doesn’t set it until mid to late June, then you will need to start your seeds indoors to give them plenty of time to grow when they are in your garden. Use a planter pot that is no more than 4 inches in diameter. Place one seed per pot and place the pot on a window sill in your house that receives sunlight first thing in the morning. Keep the water moist but not saturated.

Bury ‘em

When you are ready to move your tomato plants from the indoors to the outdoors don’t forget to bury them deep. When you remove your tomato plant from the pot, make sure you bury them up to the first set of leaves on the plant. Tomatoes can develop a root system along the stems on the plant which is why you can do this with them. This will the plant stronger and more developed.

Remove bottom leaves

Now that you have buried your tomato plant up to the first leaves of the plant, wait until your tomato plants are a good 2 to 3 feet tall and then remove the leaves closest to the soil. The bottom leaves are subject to developing various fungus and rotting problems and if you leave them on those problems will spread to the remainder of the plant.

Remove the Nutrient Stealers

Tomato plants develop what are called suckers. These are growths that form in the “v” sections of the plants stem system. They will never bare fruit and do nothing but require the plant to transport resources to them. Simply remove these from the plant so more of the vitamins and nutrients are heading to the branches that will actually produce tomatoes.

Keep in mind tomatoes require full sun and regular watering. Planting your tomatoes in an area in your garden that receives partial shade will do your plants a great injustice. Similarly, watering your plants only once in a while could stunt there growth, and overwatering will cause blossom end rot. Regular, consistent watering will yield the best results.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike’s vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

It is something that I talk about in great abundance and that is vermicompost. Vermicompost is the end result of varieties of earth worms breaking down organic material. Their castings are what is called vermicompost.

Extensive studies have shown that adding vermicompost to your soil (more on that in a moment) helps improve it’s physical structure, enriches the soil with micro-organisms, increased of microbial activity by more than 20 times than other forms of compost, and improves your soil’s water holding capacity which leads to savings on water since you do not have to do it as often.

When vermicompost has been mixed in with soil, studies have shown that germination is a bit faster, plant growth is stronger and crops yield more. The root structures of plants are shown to be stronger than plants not grown in a vermicompost mix and the growth of roots are more defined.

The best way you can add vermicompost to your soil is by burying your food scraps and leftovers at least eighteen inches deep. When you do this, worms in your soil ingest the food scraps, and their castings create vermicompost. Most worms can eat as much as their own bodyweight every twenty-four hours. There is no need for you to run out and buy worms (unless you are maintaining a vermicompost bin) to add to your garden, although it will speed up the process. Worms live naturally in the soil under your feet and when you bury food waste they will find it.

By continually burying your food waste throughout the year in your soil you are constantly adding nutrients back to your soil and when it comes time to plant your vegetables, your soil will be ready with everything your plant’s need to grow and thrive.

I recommend keeping a Tupperware bowl with your food scraps until and not burying the contents until it is full or a slight odor begins to form. Don’t worry about the odor that is the bacteria breaking down the organic matter. Do not put a lid on the bowl as that will create an atmosphere for anaerobic bacteria and that is not what you want. Without the lid, oxygen is getting in and that gives you the aerobic bacteria which is much better.

Once the bowl is filled, dig a hole in your garden, dump the contents of the bowl into the hole and cover with dirt. Repeat this process picking a new spot in your garden, not repeating the same spot until every area of your garden has been accounted for with organic matter being buried below it. On a side note, never bury dog or human waste, or charcoal ashes in your garden. They are toxic to plants and worms. Cow and chicken manure are fine.

So before you toss out that leftover bowl of spaghetti into your trash can, consider feeding it the worms that live in your soil. They will thank you for it by returning to you wonderful vermicompost that your home vegetable garden will absolutely love.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Monday, October 19, 2009

In people calcium helps build strong bones among the many other health benefits, but it is not just for people. The plants in your vegetable garden need calcium as well and they get it through your soil.

Most home vegetable gardeners have seen somewhere or heard from someone the importance of the N, P, K levels in your soil. These letters represent specific elements and stand for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). If you look on any bag of fertilizer available at your local home or garden center you will see these letters and usually a ratio values right on the bag, bucket or box.

Although, N, P, and K, are considered the big three, they are only a few compared to the many elements and nutrients your plants need in order to grow or thrive. Just like you need all of your vitamins and minerals from A through zinc, a plant requires many nutrients as well.

One specific nutrient it needs, just like humans, is calcium. Calcium in plants is required for proper cell division during plant formation and growth. If your soil lacks calcium the leaves of your plants will look yellow or pale and blossom end rot will occur more frequently. Other signs of calcium deficiency include bad root formation, browning of plants and small vegetable and fruit formations.

If you have been vegetable gardening for sometime then you already know the importance of composting. If you do just simple composting such as burying your food scraps or keeping a compost pile of leaves, twigs and grass clippings and then adding that compost to your soil, then you more than likely already receive ample amounts of calcium. Of course if you are not doing this then you should begin right away. There is nothing better for your soil than adding organic material that will decompose and breakdown into the nutrients your soil needs.

Good sources for calcium beyond composting include calcitic lime, calcium sulfate gypsum, bone meal, soft rock phosphate, calcium carbonate, and for those of you that have fire places, wood ashes. All or most are available at your local home or garden center with some being a lot more pricey than others. So if you are going to put out some money make sure you get a source that also includes other valuable nutrients. Bone meal for instance is a great source for phosphorus as well and by adding bone meal (a mixture of crushed bones) to your soil you are getting two very valuable nutrients for the price of one.

On a side note, although wood ashes are a great source for calcium and a bit of potassium, never ever use ashes from charcoal. These ashes could be toxic to your soil, your plants and the underlying ecosystem that works hard to break down your organic material that you are burying.

If you plan on using a commercial product, make sure you follow the instructions on the container so you do not add too much or not enough. A soil reading with a home soil testing kit comes in very handy so you know exactly how much calcium your soil contains. You can pick one up at your local home or garden center for just a few bucks.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Phosphorus is very important in the early stages of vegetable plant development. Plants need this element in order to sustain good root development. If phosphorus is in short supply in your soil, your vegetable plant’s growth will slow very quickly or even worse, not grow at all.

A common appearance of lack of phosphorous in your soil is streaks of purple up and down stems or on the leaves and low yield of fruits and vegetables.

Phosphorus makes up one of the five elements needed in plant DNA for the process of photosynthesis, with the other four being carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. All of the pieces to this puzzle must be in place, otherwise during seed development the plant’s DNA will not form properly.

Phosphorus is a slow moving element in the soil. It also one of those elements where having a bit too much of it in the soil is not necessarily a bad thing. With its ability to stimulate early growth and root formation, having an ample supply of it in your soil will help speed up maturity, promote flowering and increase seed production.

To gain a reading of how much phosphorus is in your soil, take a trip down to your local home or garden center and pick up a test kit for less than ten bucks. These kits will give you an accurate reading of how much phosphorus your soil contains and where the level should be for your area of the world.

Once you get your reading and realize that you need to add phosphorus to your soil you have plenty of choices. The most common and probably the easiest and organic (if that is what you are looking for) is to add compost to your soil. I like to bury all of my food scraps eighteen inches throughout the year in my garden. When this organic material breaks down it turns into quality compost that keeps my soil rich in nutrients such as phosphorus.

Other good sources for phosphorus include bone meal and rock phosphate both available at garden centers where fertilizers are sold. Bone meal is a mixture of crushed bones that gives off a slow release of phosphorus. Rock phosphate works best when it is finely ground and creates an extremely slow release of phosphorus in the soil. Either of these sources will work well when you need to add straight phosphorus to your soil. Just make sure you mix them in thoroughly for even distribution, wait a week or two and take another reading to see if you need to add more.

Avoid slow or stunted growth, ugly coloration of your plants, delayed maturity or poor fruit or vegetable production by making sure you add the correct amount of phosphorus to your soil. Your garden plants will love you for it.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Healthy cell growth and the process of photosynthesis in your home vegetable garden’s plants are two of the many reasons why nitrogen is needed. Without adequate supplies of nitrogen you will be inhibiting both processes and that is not good to produce healthy fruits and veggies.

Due to the volatility of nitrogen, you can easily run short of this important element in no time. Nitrogen can escape in the air and more commonly get washed away when you water your plants too much or receive excessive rain falls.

For these reasons stated above nitrogen needs to be added more often. If you do not have a tester that will give you a reading of nitrogen in the soil, you will easily tell with your eyes when the leaves of the plants start turning yellow and/or brown. Many novice gardeners think, when the leaves are turning color like this, it is due to not enough water. So they water some more and that washes even more nitrogen away making the soil conditions worse.

On the flip side of the argument is having too much nitrogen. Yes you can have too much if you overload your soil with nitrogen rich sources (more on those sources in a few moments). You can tell if you have too much nitrogen if you see a lot of red in the leaves or normally plants that could stand on their own start falling over.

The first thing you should do is invest in an inexpensive soil testing kit that will give the reading of soil’s nitrogen level. When it falls below optimal levels as per the reading on the kit, you can mix into your soil a variety of sources. These sources include blood meal, fish meal, and animal waste such as manure and of course you can grow a “cover crop” of soybeans, alfalfa or clovers which actually put nitrogen back into the soil.

If going organic is not as important to you as it is to others you can pick up nitrogen rich fertilizer at your local home or garden center for under ten bucks. These products work well when the plants are in the ground making it hard to mix in natural sources of nitrogen.

As you can see nitrogen is very important to every home vegetable gardener. Knowing how much your soil has, how much you need to add and the sources for replenishing your soil with nitrogen will go a very long way to increasing the health and harvest of your vegetable plants.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Each vegetable is unique in the sense that they like the pH level in your soil to fall within a certain range. The closer you get to that range the better the growing conditions will be for that vegetable. Here is how you can raise and lower your pH level after you have obtained a reading from your home pH tester.

The pH level is a scale that displays how acidic or alkaline something is. A pH level less than 7 means, whatever it is you are testing is dominantly acidic and a level over 7 means it is more alkaline. If you get a reading of 7 that means it is neutral which is normally water.

Simply just getting the pH reading is not enough. Once you have that reading you need to know how to make adjustments in your soil for optimum growth of the vegetables that you are planting.

Here is how you can raise and lower your soil's pH level in your home vegetable garden.

Before you can do anything to your soil you have to know what the pH level is. The best way to obtain this reading is with a pH soil testing kit from your local home or garden center. They are as inexpensive as five bucks or as complicated and expensive as a hundred dollars. The choice of which one you get is up to you.

If you soil falls under seven on the pH scale then you soil is has too much acid in it. That is ok for plants like cauliflower, but if you are going to grow carrots in that spot, you need to get it to around neutral. The best way to do this is to add lime to the soil in the early spring (at least 3 weeks before planting) or in the autumn months after the gardening season is over. It takes some time for the pH level to rise so make sure you give it enough to do so.

If the pH level reading you obtain from your soil is above then that means your soil is too alkaline and needs to come down. Most crops to not like a pH levels above 8.0. That is not to say they won't grow any vegetables or fruit, but bringing that number down will greatly help production. The best way to bring down the pH level is through composting organic materials and mixing in cow or chicken manure. If you bury your food scraps at least 18" deep in your garden throughout the year you will more than likely never run into this problem. However, just like above make sure you mix in your compost and manures long before the start of the growing season or once it has completed.

Most home vegetable gardeners never take into account the very important pH level of their soil. If you can keep this level in the optimal ranges for the plants you are going to grow, you will surely a more abundant and tastier harvest.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Like most home vegetable gardeners, I started with simply planting seeds of the vegetables I wanted to grow, adding some water, pulled weeds, and waited it out. Over time I realized that although this simple method works to grow great vegetables, I was doing me and my garden a great disservice.

By not paying attention to the soil’s pH level and the amount of moisture in the soil I was limiting the production of certain plants that could have benefited by making some adjustments. Just like a really good NFL head coach who makes game time adjustments, you too as a home vegetable gardener need to make adjustments in your soil as the season moves along.

There are two tools you should get to know that will help you make these adjustments based on the vegetables that you grow. They are the pH tester and the moisture tester. Each tool can be found at a local home or garden center in your area or purchased online. Simple ones cost as low as five or six dollars while more advanced models can go as high as one hundred dollars. How advanced you want to get is up to you, but most home vegetable gardeners usually go with the low cost varieties since they do an adequate job for the tasks at hand.

Soil pH TesterLet’s start with the soil pH tester. The pH level is the measure of how acidic or alkaline your soil levels are. If you remember from your high school chemistry class, the scale goes from zero to fourteen, where anything under seven is considered acidic and anything over seven is alkaline with seven being neutral which is water.

Certain plants like the soil more neutral. Cauliflower for instance grows best when the soil pH level is in the 6.5 to 7.5 range, where as carrots like the soil a bit more acidic in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. So what happens when the pH level of your soil is not in the ideal range? If it is too acidic or too alkaline then you may not produce anything, or your harvest is very limited. By using a soil pH testing kit you can get an accurate reading of your soil’s level and then make adjustments based on what the test tells you (most kits come with recommendation charts for your soil so you can adjust the level accordingly). For the cost of less than seven bucks at some home and garden centers it is well worth the price.

Soil Moisture TesterTesting your soil for its moisture level means you are looking for a reading of how much water is in your soil and around the roots of your plants. This can become extremely important so as you do not overwater your plants. A couple of things happen if when you overwater.

First, too much water can wash away valuable nutrients in the soil such as nitrogen. Ever see your vegetable plant leaves turn yellow? A common cause of this is lack of nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen washes away easily and when you water too much you are removing a nutrient your vegetables need to grow.

Second, too much water can cause the roots of plants to develop what is called root rot. This is caused by overwatering creating a condition around the roots where they are unable to obtain the air they need. When this happens the roots will begin to rot and will kill the plant. If your land has excellent drainage you may never run into this problem but I would recommend investing in this inexpensive tool and measure your soil’s moisture level just to be sure.

With these two valuable tools you will now be armed with the information you need to ensure a healthy and prosperous harvest. Combined these two tools can cost you less than fifteen dollars (depending on where you buy them from of course). Do yourself and your vegetable garden a favor, use the tools.

About the AuthorMike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Radicchio is a leafy vegetable that is reddish in color with white vines. It has a bitter taste, but is a good addition to a variety of salads and loses its bitterness when it is grilled, fried or baked.

Radicchio is easy to grow and performs well in the spring and fall months when the temps are a bit cooler.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The growth of celery has been documented back to at least 30 AD. Today celery is grown for more than just food consumption, its seeds contain a volatile oil that is used in the pharmaceutical industry as well as to manufacture perfume.

However, you more than likely just want to grow some as a garnish for a salad or my favorite, buffalo wings.

Here are some steps you can take to add a successful harvest of celery to your home vegetable garden.

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About Me

Mike is a 3rd generational home vegetable gardener and author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person. He has been vegetable gardening himself for nearly 30 years and his vegetable gardening tips and tricks have been featured in newspapers, magazines and blogs around the world. Mike has also appeared on ABC, NBC and Fox Business talking about vegetable gardening and the Seeds of the Month Club.
He also hosts the popular weekly podcast, "Vegetable Gardening with Mike the Gardener", which can be downloaded from iTunes.